ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

February 2, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades returned had a light week of action playing only two games, both on the road and picking up wins in both to run their road winning streak to seven straight. Overall the Everblades still enter this week with the league's best record at 31-9-2 (64 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Tuesday & Wednesday, February 3 & 4 vs. South Carolina Stingrays Both Games: 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades return home for a quick two game home stand in the first two of four straight games against the South Carolina Stingrays. The games are the ninth and tenth of 12 meetings this season between the South Division rivals. The games are the final two of six between the clubs at Germain Arena. Overall the Everblades are 4-3-1 vs. South Carolina this season, but are 1-3-0 at home vs. the Stingrays. The last time the teams met at Germain Arena South Carolina swept a weekend series on December 12 & 13. The Stingrays enter this week's action with a record of 22-16-5 (49 pts., 2nd, South Division). The rivalry between the Everblades and Stingrays is the longest running in Florida's history. During the last 11 seasons the teams have met 85 times with the Everblades holding an all-time mark of 46-27-12 vs. South Carolina. At home vs. the Stingrays, the Everblades are 21-17-7 all-time.

Upcoming Promotions:

Wednesday, Februay 4: Veteran's Night!: The Everblades are honoring our country's Veterans on Wednesday night! In addtion the Everblades are offering any Veterans or dependants a special ticket price of just $5. To receive the special ticket price any Veteran or dependant that shows proper military ID at the Germain Arena Box Office will get the $5 price!

Friday & Saturday, February 6 & 7 at South Carolina Stingrays Both Games: 7:05 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades continue their four-game set with the Stingrays over the week as the clubs meet for the final time in 2008-09. The Everblades are coming off a 7-1 thrashing of South Carolina at the North Charleston Coliseum this past weekend. Overall the Everblades are 3-0-1 vs. the Stingrays at South Carolina. All-time the Everblades are 25-10-5 at South Carolina.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, January 30 at South Carolina Stingrays 7-1 Win

The Everblades put together an impressive effort on Friday night pounding the Stingrays 7-1 at the N. Charleston Coliseum. Kevin Baker netted his fifth career hat-trick as the Everblades used a five-goal second period to win their second straight game. Mathieu Roy, Danick Bouchard, and Ryan Lang added the other goals for Florida. In net David Leggio was his eighth straight game by stopping 23 of 24 shots. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 4-of-13; PK: 6-of-6.

Saturday, January 31 at Gwinnett Gladiators 3-2 OT Win

The Everblades scrapped their way to a 3-2 overtime victory over Gwinnett on Saturday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Blades scored two quick first period goals separated by 48 seconds by Andrew Fournier and Ryan Lang, but the Gladiators clawed back to tie the game with goals in the first and second periods. In overtime, while on the power play, the Kevin Baker tallied the game-winner with 1:22 remaining in the extra period. In goal Anton Khudobin collected his 15th win of the year with a very solid effort turning away 30 of 32 shots. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 1-of-8; PK: 9-of-9.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: (all times eastern)

Monday, Feb. 2: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Tuesday, Feb. 3: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Wednesday, Feb. 4: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Thursday, Feb. 5: Travel Day to South Carolina

Friday, Feb. 6: GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:05 p.m. @ The N. Charleston Coliseum

Saturday, Feb. 7: GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:05 p.m. @ The N. Charleston Coliseum

Sunday, Feb. 8: OFF DAY

2008-09 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERSQuick Stats

Overall Record 31-9-2

Home Record 13-6-0

Road Record 18-3-1

Overtime Record 3-1

Shootout Record 1-1

Power Play 63-283 (1st)

Penalty Kill 249-282 (2nd)

Leading Scorers

Kevin Baker 36-23-59

Ryan Lang 15-26-41

Peter Metcalf 5-33-38

Ernie Hartlieb 12-22-34

Danick Bouchard 16-12-28

Mark Lee 8-20-28

Leading Goaltenders

David Leggio 2.10 GAA, 16-3-1

Anton Khudobin 2.51 GAA, 15-6-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Doug O'Brien +17

Ernie Hartlieb +15

Ryan Lang +13

Ross Carlson +12

Player & Goaltender of the Week Nominees: This week's Player of the Week nominee is Kevin Baker who registered a hat-trick and four goals overall plus an assist in the two games this weekend. This week's Goaltender of the Week nominee is David Leggio who was 1-0-0 this week to run his winning streak to eight straight.

Special Teams Breakdown: Here's a look at the special teams of the Everblades and how it breaks down overall, home and away: Power play: 63-of-283 (22.3%) which ranks the Everblades 1st in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 18-of-115 (15.7%) which ranks 15th. On the road the Everblades are 45-of-168 (26.8%) which ranks 1st in the league. Penalty Kill: 249-of-282 (88.3%) which ranks the Everblades 2nd in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 111-of-130 (85.4%) which is 8th. On the road the Everblades have killed off 138-of-152 (90.8%) which ranks 2nd in the league.

Career Highlight!: Everblades rookie forward Andrew Fournier had a highlight moment in his young career. The 21-year-old scored his first pro goal on Saturday night at Gwinnett. The milestone marker came at 12:11 of the first period when his wrist shot from the top of the right circle beat Gwinnett goaltender Joe Fallon on the stick side. As a junior in the Ontario Hockey League with the Plymouth Whalers, Fournier registered 85 career goals in 226 games.

Record Breaking Night: Everblades captain Kevin Baker became the Everblades all-time single-season record holder for most power play goals in one year when he tallied his 15th power play goal of the season on Friday night at South Carolina. The record-setting score came at 4:32 of the second period. The goal broke the previous mark of 14 held by three players: Ernie Hartlieb (2007-08), Joe Blaznek (2002-03) and Tim Ferguson (1998-99).

Single Season Records in Danger!: At the half way point of the season there are a few Everblades' all-time single season records that are in danger of falling. Kevin Baker's 36 goals already is tied for second and within striking distance of the top spot of 40 which was set by Brian McCullough in 2003-04...Ryan Lang is one short-handed goal away from tying for the top spot for most one in year with four...goaltender David Leggio is currently second in single season history with his four shutouts, one off the pace of Jeff Maund (2003-04) and Marc Magliarditi (1998-99) for the top spot.

Who's Hot: Here's a look at who's been playing well for the Everblades of late: Both goaltenders are hot right now as David Leggio is currently riding a career-high eight-game winning streak from Jan. 2 - Jan. 30, posting an impressive 1.50 GAA in that span...Anton Khudobin has won four of his last five starts and has an equally impressive GAA of 1.75 in those five games...F Kevin Baker has points in 11 of the last 13 games (13g, 4a)...F Ryan Lang has points in eight of the last nine games (5g, 8a)...D Peter Metcalf has notched a point in three straight games (1g, 5a)...F Mark Lee has points in 11 of the last 13 games (8g, 13a).

Ticket Information: Everblades 2008-09 group tickets and individual game tickets are on sale now! Fans can purchase tickets at the Germain Arena box office, which is open from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling TicketMaster at (239) 334-3309, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional information, contact the Everblades office at (239) 948-7825.

On the Air: Everblades games, home and away, can be heard on 770 ESPN Radio and via the internet courtesy of Waterman Broadcasting by logging on to www.floridaeverblades.com or www.abc-7.com/sports. In addition, Everblades games can be viewed via the internet thanks to B2 Networks by logging on to www.b2live.com. Join the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter as he calls all the action! The Everblades pre-game show begins 20 minutes prior to game time.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 2, 2009


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